Interim Mental Health Specialist, Upper School (Focus on 5th to 8th Grade)

Start Date: as soon as possible

End Date: June 18, 2025

Salary: 61K-150K prorated to dates of employment.

Due to the short nature of this role, it is not benefits eligible.
Schedule: Options available for 3-5 days per week. The hours for this position are 8:00 AM-4:00 PM, Mondays through Fridays, and until 5:00 PM on Wednesdays for a weekly afternoon faculty meeting. This role also includes occasional overnight work and occasional event support that may happen early mornings, evenings, or weekends.

About the School
A leader in progressive education for more than 100 years, the Bank Street School for Children provides students, from nursery through 8th grade, an education that engages their natural curiosity, nurtures critical thinking, and helps to develop a sense of community and social responsibility. Through a teaching approach that is fundamentally hands-on and child-centered, Bank Street students develop the courage and confidence to think independently, work collaboratively, understand themselves and others more deeply, and possess the compassion to make meaning of the world around them.
About the Position
The Bank Street School for Children is seeking a collaborative, experienced and knowledgeable individual to fill the position of Mental Health Specialist in our Upper School (5th to 8th Grade). While this role will primarily support the Upper School, it may also support other age levels when needs arise. This specialist may be a psychologist, social worker, or counselor and serves as a resource to our youngest students and their families and teachers. This role is a part of the school's Mental Health Team.
The right candidate must be welcoming, discrete, professional, playful and able to initiate and lead when needed. The ideal candidate will be passionate about supporting children as they navigate the joys and challenges of a progressive school community.
Responsibilities:
The below responsibilities may be adjusted or truncated based on the interim nature of the role
Work with Children & Parents
- Facilitate or co-facilitate workshops for teachers and parents about child development
- Co-facilitate student support team meetings for each classroom as well as specialist teams
- Collaborate with the DEI director around themes of identity, power and privilege and how they impact the emotional wellbeing of children
- Meet with families and teachers to develop strategies to support the social-emotional growth, behavior, and learning needs of children
- Meet with parents/caregivers individually or in groups as needed to further the growth of their children and provide psycho-education
- Make therapeutic referrals to outside providers when appropriate
- Interpret results of outside neuropsychological and psychoeducational evaluations
- Actively engage with children in their classrooms and during recess to be integrated fully into the community
- Create and teach about social emotional themes in classrooms at developmentally appropriate level
- Respond to student behavioral and emotional crises across Children's Programs when needed
- Support children individually and in groups. This may include pull-out work, supporting children within classrooms, and accompanying students on field trips.
- Maintain contact and liaison with outside therapists and other appropriate services such as social skills groups
- Teach some classes on mental health, SEL, human growth & development, or related topics to students
- Maintain up to date notes through documenting sessions, contacts, and mental health files within the school's data systems
- Meet and collaborate regularly with other members of the Mental Health Team, your supervisor, and other members of the school. These meetings include but are not limited to weekly division meetings, supervision meetings, mental health team meetings, and grade-level team meetings
Other Responsibilities
- Facilitate workshops for teachers about adult emotional wellness
- Collaborate with specialists, teachers, administrators, and other school staff on a variety of issues
- Co-facilitate mandated reporter training for staff
- Provide coverage for other mental health team members in other parts of the school when necessary.
- Fulfill weekly communities duties as assigned which may include but are not limited to lunch, recess, early morning care, subbing, and bus
- Assist with the admissions process for incoming students by interviewing candidates, reviewing applicant work, and other tasks as needed by the admissions team
- Participate in community response to current events that might invoke fear, trauma, or concern among children, faculty, and/or families
- Serve as a mandated reporter for issues that require notification to ACS
- Participate in the school wide Student Support Team
- Provide clinical observation in classrooms
- Support the school and Division Head with any ad-hoc needs that arise such as event support, trip planning, and assemblies
- Other responsibilities as assigned

Qualifications:
- An advanced degree in mental health support, with a preference for social work, PhD or PsyD in psychology
- Excellent and demonstrated communication skills
- Deep understanding of adolescent children
- Background in working with teachers on social/emotional classroom strategies
- Hold a current, active mental health related license (LMHC, LMSW, LCSW, LCAT, LMFT, etc.)
- Experience working with families around identity, parenting and social emotional development
- Experience in group experiential processes
- Commitment to issues of social justice, diversity, equity, and anti-bias in education and a willingness to engage in identity development individually and with colleagues
- An understanding of the goals and philosophy of progressive education
- Experience working in a school setting

About Bank Street College of Education

The mission of Bank Street College is to improve the education of children and their teachers by applying to the educational process all available knowledge about learning and growth, and by connecting teaching and learning meaningfully to the outside world. In so doing, we seek to strengthen not only individuals, but the community as well, including family, school, and the larger society in which adults and children, in all their diversity, interact and learn. We see in education the opportunity to build a better society.

Connections working at Bank Street College of Education